Your SBA Certified Business Adviser now serving you at your North Peninsula Small Business Development Center - The SBDC | (360) 865-4938 | wsbdc.org

Secrets to business financing

In my experience, there are three important ways to get a financiers to listen to your needs.Look at your financing request from the lender's point of view.
Lenders want to finance businesses with dependable means of repayment and clearly understood risks. Lenders especially favor applications that are clearly stated and free of internal contradictions. Make sure your request answers three important questions:

How much money do you want?

For what specific business purpose do you want this funding?

Will you use this money in ways that improve your ability to repay the loan?

Teach your lender something that they don't already know.
Finance professionals work across industry sectors and most enjoy learning about business issues in their service area. A lender will take notice when you share a unique insight into your market, your industry or your customer base. Show an uncommon knowledge of your business operations.
In
lender meetings I have attended, the owner who can speak eloquently
about every dimension of the business operations is the owner who moves
to the next level in loan consideration.

Can you explain, in painful detail, your costs of goods or
services sold?

Can you name your most profitable sales, your
differential advantages and your critical market segments?

Do you know
your competitors intimately?

Can you describe your daily sales numbers
and tell why those numbers fluctuate?

Thinking about applying for financing, a
lease option or a line of credit? Sit down with your bookkeeper, top salesperson, operations assistant and other sources
of business expertise - study your business inside and out.
Want to learn more about financing? Call Kevin, your insightful business adviser at (360) 865-4938